(UnitedVoice.com) – Republican Glenn Youngkin defeated Democratic opponent Terry McAuliffe during the Virginia gubernatorial election in November 2021, marking the first time a GOP candidate had won a statewide office since 2009. Currently, the state has a divided government, with Republicans controlling the governor’s office and Democrats leading the Senate and House of Delegates.
Republicans recently defeated a couple of Democrats by a massive margin in special elections for each chamber of the Virginia Assembly, taking GOP lawmakers one step closer to gaining control of both chambers after the upcoming general elections.
Democrats Annihilated in Virginia
Virginia recently redrafted its district maps for the State Assembly, and voters elected Republicans to Senate District 9 and House of Delegates District 48 during special elections held on January 9.
Political newcomer Tammy Mulchi destroyed her Democratic opponent by winning 63.9% of the vote to the paltry 36% won by Tina Wyatt-Younger, a former South Boston, Virginia council member. Mulchi won more than 12,000 of the ballots cast. Younger won 7,101 votes, and 24 people voted for write-in candidates.
Mulchi replaced former Republican Sen. Frank Ruff. He served in the Virginia Senate starting in December 2000. He represented the state’s 61st District in the House of Delegates from January 1994 until his election to the Senate.
Ruff announced his resignation in December to focus on his ongoing treatment for liver cancer. He stepped down the same day as the special election.
Eric Phillips, another political newcomer, scored an even greater victory over his Democratic opponent, Melody Cartwright, a retired graphic designer for Martinsville’s Museum of Natural History. The Henry County businessman won 4,317 votes to Cartwright’s 1,783, giving him a winning margin of 70.7% to 29.2% (4,317 votes to 1,783).
Phillips replaced Les Adams, who resigned last December, effective at the end of his current term on January 9. He sent a letter to the House of Delegates clerk acknowledging his recent election to serve another term, but said he would “decline to accept the oath of office,” so he could “make [himself] available for another position of service.” Newsweek reported that he was pursuing a judgeship in Danville.
Is Change Coming to Virginia?
Virginia has remained a purple state for decades, with Democrats and Republicans winning control of the state’s Senate three times each since 1991 and tying during the 1995 and 2011 general elections. Alternatively, the Republicans won 11 of the last 16 general elections during that time frame.
Republicans’ defeat of both Democratic candidates during the January 9 special elections could mark a shift in the balance of power within Virginia. Were that to happen, the party would hold a trifecta in the state, providing an opportunity for conservative lawmakers to push back against woke Liberals who have blocked the Republican governor’s effort to ban abortions statewide, promote gun rights, and promote a more conservative agenda.
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